Irene Cara has passed away (2022).... She was a child performer who came to prominence playing the title movie role in "Sparkle" (1976). It was a rags to riches story about three black female singers. The production budget climbed to $1 million. It made $4 million at the box office. It has since become a "Cult" favorite.
Cara then starred in "Fame" (1980) portraying "Coco" who is a triple-threat singer, dancer and actress. She sang the title song on the movie soundtrack that hit number #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also won the Oscar as Best Original Song. The film was a box office hit with $42 million against an $8 million budget.... The film spawned the TV series "Fame" which Cara never appeared in.
Then came the film "Flashdance" (1983) starring Jennifer Beals which Cara didn't appear in either. She co-wrote and performed the title song that hit #1 for 6 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It won the Oscar as Best Original Song and earned Irene the Grammy award for Best Female Pop Vocal performance.
"Flashdance" was made on a soft $7 million budget. It became a worldwide box office smash grabbing $200 million. The soundtrack sold out and more copies had to be shipped. It spawned 4 singles and sold 20 million "vinyl" albums. It would become one of the top selling soundtracks in history.
The movie starred unknown actors and surprised the film industry by taking off at the box office. It was revolutionary for its' time with music videos inserted into the film story line. For the next 7 years that became a trend. Movies had incorporated music video-type songs in each story line.
MTV and VH-1 rotated the music videos of "Flashdance... What a Feeling" and "Maniac" 24 hours a day on cable TV. It became a "phenomenon" for 1983.
RIP Irene Cara....
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